TODAY I HEAR many talking about the glory as if it’s the same thing as the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). You will hear some say, “The Holy Spirit came as the glory upon us and many were saved, delivered, and healed!”
Then you will also hear some say things such as, “The glory of G-D came into the room and charged the atmosphere. There was a tangible glory cloud. People were healed and set free in a dramatic way like we had never seen before. There was no laying on of hands. People were receiving miracles and healing all over the room.”
What is the glory? Is there a difference between the Holy Spirit and the glory?
In the Tanakh (Old Testament) we read about the glory of G-D coming down from heaven and resting on top of Mount Sinai.
Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain to the eyes of the children of Israel.
—EXODUS 24:15–17
In other references we read that the glory of G-D entered the temporary dwelling place Moses built called the “tent of meeting” and later into the holy of holies in the tabernacle built by Moses, as well as in the first holy temple built later by Solomon and the second holy temple built under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. (Herod merely reconstructed the second temple.)
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
—EXODUS 40:34–35
The house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud. And the priests were not able to stand in order to serve because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of [G-D].
—2 CHRONICLES 5:13–14
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SHEKINAH GLORY?
It couldn’t have been the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit would fall upon certain prophets, priests, and kings. The Holy Spirit wasn’t contained to being just in the holy of holies. It wasn’t Yeshua (Jesus) because Yeshua had not yet been born of a virgin as the only begotten Son of the G-D of Israel.
We’ve discussed that when it came to the tabernacle and the holy temple, there was a separation between the children of Israel and the glory that abode in the holy of holies. The high priest of Israel could enter only once a year on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) into the holy of holies to offer the atonement sacrifice for the nation of Israel as their intercessor. Moses went alone into the cloud of G-D’s glory on Mount Sinai.
A key to understanding the glory is given in Moses’s encounter with the G-D of Israel when he built the temporary tent of meeting, a place for the Shekinah glory to abide until the full tabernacle could be constructed. It was in the cloud of G-D’s glory that Moses beseeched G-D in the following verse.
Then Moses said, “I pray, show me Your glory.”
—EXODUS 33:18
Moses stood in the cloud of G-D’s glory. From all accounts, the cloud was a covering masking the bright light of G-D’s Shekinah glory. Moses was saying that he wanted to get beyond the cloud itself and go further inside to see clearly the fullness of the light of G-D’s glory. But the one true G-D of Israel identified the source of the light that Moses was beholding.
Then [G-D] said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live.”
—EXODUS 33:19–20
It was the one true G-D of Israel who told Moses what the glory was—it was His face. The glory light was emitted from the very source, the very face of G-D the Father.
Let me submit to you that the glory is not a thing, but the glory is a person—the person of the one true G-D, the heavenly Father. Whenever Moses entered into the glory cloud, the reflection of G-D’s glory would come upon Moses’s face.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in the hands of Moses, when he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, amazingly, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
—EXODUS 34:29–30
It is written that Moses had to place a veil upon his face in order for the children of Israel to not be afraid to approach Moses as he imparted the word given to him by G-D. In the Book of Revelation we read of the effect the glory of G-D has upon Yeshua since He is seated on the throne of mercy (the heavenly mercy seat) at the right hand of the heavenly Father.
Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks was one like a Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and with a golden sash wrapped around the chest. The hair on His head was white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters. He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. His appearance was like the sun shining brightly. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though I were dead. Then He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, though I was dead. Look! I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
—REVELATION 1:12–18
Again I stress to you that when Aaron the high priest of Israel pronounced the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing upon the children of Israel while holding both of his hands up toward the people, he would spread his fingers and keep his thumbs together, to represent the Hebrew letter shin, an emblem for El Shaddai (meaning G-D Almighty), and something supernatural happened! A little portion of the actual Shekinah glory (the presence of the one true G-D of Israel) was “shed forth or poured out” upon the children of Israel!
Rabbinical literature refers to this as nesiat kapayim, the “lifting of the hands.” Jewish tradition states that the divine presence would shine through the fingers of the high priest as he blessed the people, and no one was allowed to look at this out of respect for G-D. This appears to support the claim that a portion of the Shekinah glory would pass through the window of the high priest’s hands and come onto the children of Israel.
Could it be that the hands of the high priest also were likened to the wings of the cherubim, which were positioned over the ark of the covenant’s mercy seat where the Shekinah rested? The children of Israel were to bow their heads, just as the cherubim on the ark were fashioned as having their heads bowed in reverence.
Hollywood and the Shekinah Glory
The famous TV and film personality Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in the TV series Star Trek, shares how he borrowed the Vulcan salutation and the raising of his hand from his Jewish upbringing.
Leonard Nimoy said in an interview, “So I’m with my father, my grandfather, and my brother sitting in the bench seats. . . . Five or six guys get up on . . . the stage facing the congregation and they get their talit [prayer shawls] over their heads, and they start this chanting.”1 He shared that his father told him not to look up. Everyone in the congregation covered their eyes with their hands, and their talitot were over their heads. Leonard said he sensed something powerful and decided to peek. He saw the rabbi’s hands making the form of the Hebrew letter shin, an emblem for shaddai.
Leonard said it was much later before he found out why he wasn’t supposed to look at the rabbi with his hands in the form of the shin while he pronounced the divine prayer. An Orthodox rabbi told him that during the benediction, the Shekinah comes into the sanctuary to bless the congregation. “You don’t want to see that because it’s so powerful . . . we could get seriously injured or it could be fatal. So that’s why you protect yourself by hiding your eyes.”2
Leonard later adapted the hand gesture into the greeting that his character Spock would give on Star Trek as the Vulcan salute with the words, “Live long and prosper!” These words are part of the actual Hebrew meaning of the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing.
The movie produced by Steven Spielberg Raiders of the Lost Ark centers on a story line that the ark of the covenant held supernatural power concerning the G-D of the Hebrews. In the climactic scene the Nazis had taken possession of the ark. Indiana Jones, along with the leading lady, Marion, were captured and tied to a stake while a Nazi dressed as the Jewish high priest began to invoke the G-D of Israel in the Hebrew language to manifest His glory. The powerful scene includes Hollywood special effects simulating the Shekinah glory beginning to manifest from within the ark as the cover is removed. Indiana Jones yells to the leading lady, “Marion, don’t look at it—shut your eyes, Marion, no matter what happens!” The movie depicts that all the Nazis who gazed upon the Shekinah glory were destroyed—even burned to a crisp.
YESHUA AND THE GLORY
In New Testament writings we also see evidence of the glory not being a thing but actually being the very person of the Most High G-D. The account of Yeshua on the Mount of Transfiguration speaks powerfully to this point.
After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother and brought them up to a high mountain alone, and was transfigured before them. His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the light.
—MATTHEW 17:1–2
Right here we have a clue to the fact that it was the Shekinah glory that Yeshua was being affected by as he was immersed in the glory light of G-D in full view of the disciples. This same sort of sign and wonder occurred when Moses was in the midst of the Shekinah glory on Mount Sinai.
Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter said to [Yeshua], “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You wish, let us make three tabernacles here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”
—MATTHEW 17:3–5
Note that it was a bright cloud that overshadowed them. Moses had stood numbers of times in the midst of the bright cloud of the Shekinah glory. Here were Peter, James, and John now standing in the midst of the cloud and what the Scriptures clearly indicate in verse 5 is a key to what the glory actually is.
. . . a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”
—MATTHEW 17:5
The one true G-D of Israel Himself, the heavenly Father, was in that cloud of glory and spoke to them about Yeshua being His only begotten Son. This was a key moment for the disciples to witness. They now knew that Yeshua was more than another great prophet as Moses and Elijah were regarded, but He was the only begotten Son of G-D.
When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were filled with awe.
—MATTHEW 17:6
Here we see the awesome power of the presence of the Most High G-D of Israel, the heavenly Father, in the midst of the Shekinah glory. I have already shared with you that when the Shekinah glory came and filled the temple that Solomon built, the priests couldn’t stand to minister. They were overcome!
And when the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not continue to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
—1 KINGS 8:10–11
Yeshua had to reassure the disciples that they had the privilege of being witnesses to the appearance of the one true G-D of Israel, the heavenly Father, in the midst of the Shekinah glory!
But [Yeshua] came and touched them and said, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” When they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but [Yeshua] only. As they came down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”
—MATTHEW 17:7–9
MY TESTIMONY AND THE GLORY
As I shared in chapter 2, my mother unintentionally gave me the Hebrew name Meyer. Until recently I never knew the English translation had to do with being “a bearer of the light, or a bearer of the glory.” I have already shared the story with you concerning my background. But it bears the repeating of the essentials in relation to the Shekinah glory! As a little boy I was frightened of lightning and thunder. In order to comfort me, my sister told me about the existence of G-D. Though she was agnostic, she must have been compelled to share this to stop me from crying. She said, “He lives in a place called heaven, yet He is everywhere!” I became more afraid about this invisible entity called G-D who was ever present with me than I was concerning the lighting and thunder.
This triggered my childhood dream of seeing G-D in heaven. As I look back at this now, it causes me to realize that what I beheld was the Shekinah glory of the Most High G-D of Israel, the heavenly Father. G-D said to me, “Don’t be afraid—I am your friend—I will never hurt you!” This dream was so profound, I tried to draw a picture of what I saw in my kindergarten class. (See the photo section.)
I also already shared that at eight years old, my mother took me to see Cecil B. DeMille’s movie The Ten Commandments. When I saw the scenes where Moses stood in the midst of G-D’s glory on Mount Sinai, it reminded me of that childhood dream. It was as if I was standing on Mount Sinai in the movie alongside Moses experiencing the presence of the Shekinah glory all over again. The presence of Him was overwhelming. That dream set me on a search to want to know the one true G-D of Israel.
KEYS TO THE BLESSING
The Shekinah glory, according to the Word of G-D, is the actual presence of the one true G-D of Israel.
STUDY QUESTIONS
What is the Shekinah glory?
[ ] Yeshua
[ ] The Ruach HaKodesh
[ ] The angel of the Lord
[ ] G-D the Father
What did G-D tell Moses was in the glory cloud?
[ ] A great anointing
[ ] Blessings and prosperity
[ ] A portal (doorway) to heaven
[ ] G-D’s face
Whose voice did Peter, James, and John hear coming from within the glory cloud when they beheld Yeshua on the Mount of Transfiguration?
PRAYER
Oh G-D of Israel, I ask that You allow me to encounter You in the Shekinah glory of Your presence. Please make Yourself real to me. I need You more than the air I must breathe to stay alive. I need You more than the food and water I need! I understand that one moment in Your glory can forever transform me. Please Lord, hear my prayer of desperation. I pray this in the name of Yeshua (Jesus).